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Usual growth habit of winter squashes, including butternut squash (Curcurbita moschata), is for vining plants that can take up lots of growing space. Gardeners often choose to grow butternut squash despite its large size because it is resistant to squash vine borer, has great nutty, sweet flavor and stores well. Bush squashes allow limited-space gardeners to enjoy these same benefits in much less space, with bush squash plants usually taking up 3 feet by 3 feet of space. Semi-bush varieties take up slightly more space.

"Burpee's Butterbush"

Regarded as one of the best butternut bush varieties by "Fine Gardening," small, flavorful fruits of "Burpee's Butterbush" weigh in at about 1 1/2 pounds each. Tan on the outside, the fruits have orange-red flesh. Because this cultivar has a tendency to overproduce, thin out some of the fruits or you will get a yield of small, pickle-sized squash. Allow each plant to bear four to five squash. The characteristic tough, hard vine stems of a butternut squash make this variety resistant to penetration by squash borer larvae.

Other Varieties

Semi-bush butternut squash are also compact plants suited to small gardens. They have shorter maturity times, with "Betternut" taking 90 days and "Early Butternut" only 82 days as opposed to 110 days for conventional-size "Waltham" Butternut. "Early Butternut" is an All-America Selections winner, with blocky, medium-size 10- to 12-inch fruit and red-orange flesh. It is characterized as having compact growth. "Betternut" produces 8- to 9-inch squash that weigh 3 pounds. The flesh is described as having excellent quality. "Ponca" is a semi-bush type, which is slightly larger than the 3-foot spread of bush types, taking up about 6 square feet, but it yields more squash, and full-size ones rather than smaller fruit, as a result of the larger plant size. "Ponca" has the typical tan butternut skin color and pale orange flesh.

Planting

Normal-size butternut squash is typically direct-seeded once the last danger of frost is past. For smaller gardens and smaller plants, it makes sense to set out transplants rather than direct-seed, since transplants are more resistant to damage from pests like cucumber beetles. Start seeds, three to a 2 1/4-inch pot, about four to six weeks before you intend to plant them out. Transplant them when they have no more than two sets of true leaves so they won't be stunted. Don't thin the seedlings, since the multiple seedlings will support each other as they grow.

Pros and Cons

While bush-type butternut squash plants have a much smaller garden footprint, they don't have as many leaves to make food for both the plant and the developing fruits. Some bush-type squashes don't develop a flavor as good as larger cultivars because of fewer sugars formed by the vine. Allow fruits of bush butternuts to fully mature, with a hard skin that can't be dented with your fingernail, before harvesting them for storage, so the maximum amount of sugar gets stored in the flesh. Also provide the smaller vines with the best possible nutrition and growing conditions so the plant can produce the maximum amount of food for itself. Allow the harvested squash to cure for a week or two before eating them to improve the flavor.

About the Author

Carolyn Csanyi began writing in 1973, specializing in topics related to plants, insects and southwestern ecology. Her work has appeared in the "American Midland Naturalist" and Greenwood Press. Csanyi holds a Doctor of Philosophy in biology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.